Improved soap



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

O. O. PARSONS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVED SOAP.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 56,259, dated July 10, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, G. O. PARSONS, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and Improved Saponaceous Compound; and I do hereby declare that the following is a description of my invention sufficient to enable those skilled in the art to practice it.

My invention is based on my discovery that when petroleum is so treated in a still or retort that the volatile parts are passed ofi' without having the residuum coked or charred the said residuum may beintroduced in considerable quantities, by proper management, into the manufacture of soap to the palpable benefit of its quality, reference being had to its cost, thus utilizing an article which has hitherto had little commercial value. This uncharred residuum may be produced by varied management of the still or retort. I have produced it by employing a vacuum in connection with a fire-heated still; also, by injecting into the still and into the body of the petroleum free superheated steam, never having employed it at a temperature higher than would suffice to melt lead, and producing good results at a lower temperature.

My invention consists in a soap made by combining the described petroleum residuum with alkalies and with animal oils or fats, or with vegetable oils or resin, or with any compound of or with these or any of them.

For making, under my invention, ordinary yellow bar-soap, take, say, about sixty pounds of tallow and mix by melting therewith about fortypounds of thepetroleumresiduum. Make, with, say, about six pounds of soda, a solution with water of, say, about 17 Baum, and mix and boil it with the tallow and petroleum residuum till taken up thereby. Then, with another equal quantity of soda, make a solution of greater strength, say about 20 Baum, and incorporate it with the mass by boiling and mixing till taken up, when another equal quantity of soda made into a solution of, say, 22 or 23 Baum is added, as before, and when incorporated add to the mass, say, about fifteen pounds of resin, after which add soda solution at 22 or 23 Baum till saponification is completed, which may be known by any of the usual tests, and the soap can then be finished with salt in the usual manner.

To make ordinary soft soap one may begin with the quantity of bar-soap made as described, and boil and dissolve it in, say, about two bulks of water. Add petroleum residuum and strong solution of caustic potash in the proportion of about seven pounds of the residuum to three pounds of solid caustic potash till about ninety pounds of the residuum are added. Boil gently and stir frequently till the saponitication is completed. This soap need not be finished with salt, as by simple settling all impurities rise and may be skimmed off.

When making use of potash as the alkali the action of saponification needs to be started, as in the example given, with soap made with soda, or soda alone or in solution may be used for the same purpose, which will also be served by the employment of old potash-soap. The alkaline solution used should be weak at first and increased in strength as the process draws near completion, as in the example given.

The petroleum residuum may be introduced to a greater or less extent into the manufacture of soaps of all varieties to their improvement, if not used in too great proportion to the other ingredients, the residuum having peculiar detergent properties.

I claim- As a new manufacture, soap in which the described petroleum residuum is one of the. ingredients.

o. o. PARSONS.

Witnesses J. B. (JRosBY, M. W. FROTHINGHAM. 

